HPO Championship Main Event Day 2: Deadman Leads Final 23 Players
The action started fast and furious on the second day of the $2,500 Hollywood Poker Open Championship Main Event at the M Resort Spa Casino. When it began, Tommie Janssen was leading the field, and within the first two levels of play, more than one fourth of the pack would not be seated anymore.
After 11 one-hour levels, Simon Deadman bagged up the most chips out of 24 players remaining and the Brit is one of seven players with a seven-digit stack. Deadman eliminated Ron Carrocio and David Eldridge in one of the last hands of the day to boost his stack to 1,768,000 in chips, profiting from picking up pocket aces at least four times throughout the day.
| Table | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simon Deadman | 1,768,000 |
| 2 | Garrett Beckman | 1,417,000 |
| 3 | Christopher DeMaci | 1,344,000 |
| 4 | Elliott Zaydman | 1,065,000 |
| 5 | Martin Godsk | 1,065,000 |
| 6 | Kitty Kuo | 1,000,000 |
| 7 | Mike Sowers | 1,000,000 |
| 8 | Dmitry Kataev | 781,000 |
| 9 | Damian Salas | 711,000 |
| 10 | Brian Hastings | 692,000 |
At the second break, a bikini contest provided a temporary excitement away from the table and the action continued at a very fast pace. Those that fell before the money included Calvin Anderson, Ami Barer, Will Givens, Liv Boeree, Darya Hulyk, Toby Lewis, Ravi Raghavan, Niall Farrell, and Sam Stein.
Stein fell just before the money and hand-for-hand play wasn't even initiated yet when a short stack hit the rail after being unable to hold up with Ax8x versus QxJx. Then, it didn't take long for quite a few players to bust once the money was reached.
Bruno Lopes (51st - $6,086), Greg Ostrander (50th - $6,086), Dan Harkenrider (44th - $7,178), Chris Hunichen (41st - $7,178), Jens Kerper (33rd - $8,583), and Andrew Lichtenberger were some of the notables that cashed but didn't bag up chips. Lichtenberger ran pocket tens into the pocket Jacks of Kitty Kuo and finished in 32nd place.
Christopher DeMaci (1,344,000), Elliott Zaydman (1,065,000), Kuo (1,000,000), and Mike Sowers (1,000,000) are among the chip millionaires. Lurking behind them are the talented Brian Hastings (692,000), Andy Spears (629,000), Jack Schanbacher (585,000), and HPO Regional champion Bradley Yazici (555,000).
Within the last half an hour of play, the field was reduced from 27 to 23 and they will all be returning to the tables when the action resumes on Sunday at noon Las Vegas time. PokerNews will be there to provide all the keys hands when the winner and new owner of $351,097 will be crowned, so be sure to stay tuned for the action.
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